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My writing for print and digital publications can be found here. 

Special tags include: investigations, court reporting, interviews, and multimedia.

Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh man caught in Snapchat sting chatting to '14-year-old schoolboy'

An Edinburgh man sent explicit sexual videos on Snapchat to someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy.

Darren Scott engaged in a lengthy conversation with an undercover online operative who was pretending to be a teen boy named Alfie.

On May 9, 2025 the 32-year-old went back and forth with the individual in over 50 messages via the social media platform.

He appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, August 25 where he pled guilty to the charge under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009...
Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh man jailed for hospital bomb hoax made threats to kill in YouTube video

An Edinburgh man who previously made a threat to "bomb" a hospital in England published a "grossly offensive" video on YouTube threatening to kill two people and disclosed their private address to viewers.

Matthew Wain also made racist remarks and encouraged members of the public to damage the victims' property.

The 37-year-old appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday, August 6, after earlier pleading guilty to two charges on April 29.

In 2020, Wain was jailed for 12 weeks for making a...
Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh man swindled £22k from parents for children's football tournament trip

An Edinburgh man stole over £22,000 from parents by pretending to organise a youth football tournament in Spain before pocketing the cash.

Paul Fraser encouraged members of the Hutchison Vale under-16 football team to raise funds for the Copa Daurada 2024 tournament in Salou, Spain - near Barcelona.

The 45-year-old swindler appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday, August 5 where he pleaded guilty to a single fraudulent scheme charge, with a sheriff warning Fraser he may face a custodi...
Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh prison officer claims colleagues 'broke down' over 'bullying' culture

A former HMP Edinburgh prison officer claimed colleagues "broke down" at work and felt "completely hopeless" due to bullying from other officers, a tribunal heard today.

Agata Stankiewicz is suing her former employers - the Scottish Prison Service - alleging she suffered detriments for reporting the behaviour to managers.

She appeared at the Edinburgh Employment Tribunal on Monday, August 3, reporting "high school"-like drama which compromised safety in a high risk work setting.

Mrs Stankiewi...
Edinburgh Live •

Under siege Edinburgh school staff attacked by pupils at a rate of 21 per day

Scared Edinburgh school staff were attacked by pupils at a rate of 21 times-a-day last year, shocking data reveals.

Figures obtained by Edinburgh Live under Freedom of Information laws show the number has more than quadrupled since the 2020/21 school year which saw up to about five attacks per day across all schools.

Katrina Baird - from Edinburgh UNISON - told us: "The situation is really dire. It's getting even worse. No one should have to deal with this when they go to work. The violence is...
Daily Record •

'I met a man living in a bush in Scotland - one day later he was dead'

It's extremely surreal to have a blether with someone one week only to learn they're dead the next. This is the chilling reality of working with drug users and rough sleepers today in Scotland.

I am a qualified social worker turned-journalist based in Edinburgh. Last year I met a man - who I will call David - through volunteering at a charity which supports rough sleepers. David's laughter was infectious. He had a gap-toothed smile and thinning brown hair. He somehow always made light of his di...
Edinburgh Live •

The alarming ingredients in Edinburgh street drugs purchased by undercover reporter

A batch of drugs bought by Edinburgh Live on city centre streets contained a super-strength opioid '1,000 times stronger than morphine', we can reveal.

We launched a wide-ranging investigation after being told such narcotics, often cut with heroin, have been responsible for a growing number of drug deaths in the capital. Going undercover, we were able to obtain a 20-bag in under 45 minutes.

After sending the sample off to be tested at Welsh charity WEDINOS, we were informed our sample containe...
Edinburgh Live •

Over 300 Edinburgh school support staff quit in first six months as violence surges

Hundreds of Edinburgh school support workers have quit within months of taking up the role over the past five years, shocking new data has revealed. Professionals say huge turnover rates are connected to a "horrendous" surge in violence from pupils.

Freedom of Information stats uncovered by Edinburgh Live show 334 pupil support assistants (PSAs) resigned within months of starting work in capital special and mainstream schools from 2020 to 2025.

A downward trend was observed from 2022 onwards,...
Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh Live's investigation into 'killer drugs' to be raised at Holyrood

The shock findings of Edinburgh Live's investigation into the availability and dangers of synthetic opioids are to be raised at Holyrood. Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton warned the threat of killer nitazines in Edinburgh could 'get out of control' if action is not taken.

He has called for a new drug checking facility in the capital as well as a network of safe drug consumption rooms - and he vowed to raise our special report in parliament. Over the past week, We went undercover to reveal the...
Edinburgh Live •

'I've helped Edinburgh drug users for 30 years and it's the worst I've ever seen'

Experts with decades of experience are left scratching their heads as they try to come to terms with the deadly environment their service users find themselves in. Criminal gangs are preying on the most vulnerable in society, flooding the streets with drugs cut with synthetic opioids 500 times stronger fentanyl.

Nitazenes can be sold on their own but are also found in everything from cocaine to illicit benzos and heroin. For less than a packet of cigarettes, a tenner bag of brown cut with nitaz...
Edinburgh Live •

'Edinburgh is like the Walking Dead now - I've lost two friends to new killer drug'

The haunched figure shuffles forward in jerky, halting steps - resembling a sleepwalker. His head is bowed and eyes glazed, vacantly peering towards the ground.

It's a grim picture - men and women stalking Edinburgh's streets in spaced-out stupors. Yet it is an increasingly common sight in the capital as a dangerous drug infiltrates the market.

It is day two of our investigation into the rise of nitazenes, a type of super-strength synthetic opioid targeted at the capital's most vulnerable. One...
Edinburgh Live •

We went undercover in Edinburgh to investigate 'killer drug' taking over the streets

Not since the 1980s has Edinburgh faced such a devastating drug crisis - 40 years ago it was A-grade heroin flooding the streets, today it's super-strength synthetic opioids. The respective narcotic epidemics are depressingly similar - both potent substances are affordable, both are targeted at the most vulnerable and both are often fatal. Over the coming days, Edinburgh Live will expose the harsh reality for those caught up in the crisis. But first, we found out for ourselves how easily accessi...
Edinburgh Live •

Edinburgh man who attacked victim with crowbar has 'concocted' appeal rejected

A depraved Edinburgh man found guilty of a series of sex offences tried to accuse his victims of making false police reports against him, a judge has found.

Kyle Kernachan, 29, was convicted in April, 2025 of carrying out sexual attacks on two women, including one rape and a separate sexual assault involving a crowbar.

The case was brought before the Edinburgh High Court and he was sentenced in May to eight years in prison. However Kernachan appealed shortly after, claiming he discovered "sign...
Daily Mirror •

'Mystery virus' at UK business conference sees 20 fall sick including CEO

Over 20 people were struck down by a 'mystery virus' at an Edinburgh conference centre, with two individuals, including one heavily pregnant woman, hospitalised due to severe symptoms that attendees initially mistook for food poisoning.

The unsettling incident occurred in March 2024 at the Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue on St Mary's Street and only came to light following a recent Freedom of Information request.

The outbreak, which caused attendees to suffer from headaches, stomach pa...
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